origin: my house, Scotland
ABV: ?
location: Biergarten
served: wine bottle to glass
Brewing your own beer at home can be a risky business - not so much the risk of something blowing up, but more the risk that you've spent a fair sum of money and waited several months just to end up with foul-tasting slop. Especially if you just make up a recipe instead of following an established one. It's a fun and challenging hobby, but there are so many unknowns when starting out, or trying something new, that the danger of making 12 litres of undrinkable beer can be quite daunting.
It was with a mixture of hope and optimism, therefore, that we opened the first bottle of 'Experimental Brew 1' last week.
The recipe was initially aimed towards a Pilsner-type Lager, but did include wheat. I can't remember exactly why. The wheat did impart a lot of Weissbier characteristics - the most immediately evident of these being the cloudy look. Due to 'Experimental Brew 1' being a pretty rubbish moniker, it was renamed 'Weizenlager'.
The smell, I'm pleased to report was excellent. A good start. The colour is quite pleasing as well, with the lager malts imparting a warm yellow colouring to the hazy, weissbier look. The taste, again is a mix of a wheaty ale and a lager.
I may be biased... actually, I am biased, but I'm extremely pleased with the final product. The recipe could be refined, and it can definitely be improved, but it's a great start, I feel.
On the down side, head retention is quite poor, and it does go flat quite quickly, so a shade more carbonation would be welcome. Of course, drink it quickly and this problem doesn't enter the equation!
Which brings me neatly on to the alcohol content. At this stage it's a complete unknown, as we forgot to measure the gravity prior to fermentation, so we can't calculate it. I'd guess it's around 5 or 6% ABV, but that's purely a guess. There's no taste of alcohol, but you do feel it.
Smell: Sweet, with citrus notes, and a good level of hoppiness. 4/4
Colour: A hazy, warm, mustard yellow. like sunshine in a glass. 3/4
Taste: good body, with a very clean finish and an intricate aftertaste. Good level of hops. Sweet banana and citrus flavours balance the bitterness well. Wheaty. Only the lack of carbonation (and resulting lack of head retention) lets it down. 3/4
Overall: room for improvement, but I'm well chuffed. 10/12
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